Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Tail cutter for saving and partly cutting free tails of slaughtered animals
Field of the invention:
The present invention relates to a tail cutter for saving and partly cutting
free tails of carcasses of
slaughtered animals e.g. of pigs, to a splitting saw comprising the tail
cutter and to a method for cutting
off a tail of a slaughtered animal. A tail saver or finger located on the tail
cutter secures the partly cut
free and later cut off tail includes the entire tail or entire tail part as
present on the entire carcass of a
slaughtered animal.
Background
Tails of slaughtered animals such as pig and cattle tails have a value as
food. This value may be higher if
the tail is an entire tail and/or is cut in a straight direction transverse of
the direction of the length of the
tail, and if no damage is made along the tail length during cutting off the
tail.
When splitting a carcass of a slaughtered animal along the spine such as with
a splitting saw, the tail may
be cut into two by a longitudinally cut through the bones of the tail or
through a part of the tail splitting
the tail into two longitudinal sections or at least cutting away a part of the
tail by a partly longitudinal
cut. Hereby the tail is of nearly no value, at least not the value obtainable
when sold for human
consumption.
Another possibility when splitting a carcass of a slaughtered animal along the
spine is to cut on one side
of the tail when cutting along the area where the tail is located hereby
obtaining the tail on one of the
half parts of the split carcass, but also obtaining a non-straight cutting of
the back of the carcass in the
area where the tail is located, hereby cutting some ham meat from the ham at
the side where the tail is
cut free. Removing meat from the ham part reduces the ham weight and thus the
value of this part.
Yet a further possibility when splitting a carcass with a splitting saw is to
push the tail to a side and with
a tail cutter make a cut along the base of the tail before the carcass is
split by a saw. Such a tail cutter
has been observed having a protruding finger bent slightly to one side to
direct the tail to the opposite
side before cutting tail free. However, the knife of this tail cutter is not
in the same plane as the saw
splitting the back of the carcass resulting in a tail cut not at the base of
the tail, but further up along the
tail in the direction of the tail tip, and therefore the tail cutter does not
make a high quality cut of the
tail when cutting off the tail and leaving the tail attached to one of the
half carcasses. The cut frequently
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is made at an angle to the longitudinal direction of the tail, thus cutting
across several of the tail bones.
Furthermore no adjustment of the tail knife is possible.
The invention described herein is the kind of tail cutter controlling the
movement of the tail or tail part
located on the carcass before and/or while making a cut at the base part of
the tail bone shortly before
a saw is used to split the carcass into two halves. The partly cut off tail is
cut such that the quality of the
tail is improved, hereby increasing the value of the tail when sold for human
consumption.
Description of the invention
In a first aspect the invention relates to a tail cutter suitable for being
connected to a cutting device for
splitting animal carcasses, the tail cutter being capable of partly cutting
free the tail of an animal carcass
while the cutting device is cutting the back of an animal carcass into two
halves, the tail cutter
comprises
= a tail knife with a longitudinal cutting blade for cutting free part of
the tail at the base part of the
tail,
= a finger connected to the tail knife, the finger being capable of
directing the loose part of the tail
to a predetermined side of the animal carcass,
= the finger is bent to the right or left relative to the longitudinal
direction of the cutting blade of
the tail knife, and
= the cutting blade of the tail knife is located in line with and/or in the
same plane as the cutting
device when the tail knife is located on this cutting device.
The tail cutter may be used for partly cutting free tails of carcasses of
slaughtered animals, such as pig
carcasses which may be hanging in the hind legs with head downwards. Before
splitting the carcass and
partly cutting free the tail, the carcasses are opened along the ventral side
and preferably the intestines
are removed including the bung (anal opening). Carcasses to be processed may
be conveyed by a
conveyor system towards a location where the carcass is to be split or the
carcass may be located in an
area where multiple processes are performed on each carcass. When the dorsal
part of the carcass is to
be cut i.e. split by a longitudinal cut from the back end of the carcass
towards the head part this is
performed by a cutting device for splitting animal carcasses, which is
directed towards the spine from
the ventral side of the carcass i.e. the cutting device is located inside the
open carcass. The tail cutter as
described herein may be connected to the cutting device to partly cut free the
tail. The tail is partly cut
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free by cutting partly around the base end of the tail and performing a
substantially straight vertical cut
of the tail bones, where vertical is in relation to an axis through the length
of the tail, by such a cut high
quality tails are obtained.
By 'partly cutting free the tail' is meant the tail cutter cuts on one side of
the tail relative to the
longitudinal cut performed to split the carcass into two half carcass parts.
The tail cutter also cuts
through the tail by a substantially transverse cut relative to a longitudinal
axis going through the bones
in the tail. Hereby the tail is cut free from one half part of the carcass and
the tail is left connected on
the other half part of the split carcass. Hereby 'partly cut free tail' means
the tail is completely cut off
the one half carcass part and still connected to the other half carcass part.
This connection is obtained
.. by not cutting through the skin on one side of the tail meaning the
connection itself consists of the skin,
fat and other tissue structures located around the base part of the tail.
The tail knife of the tail cutter comprises a longitudinal cutting blade and
is preferably stationary or fixed
meaning not moving by itself. The cutting blade is preferably beveled, and
preferably it is also plain in
the longitudinal direction.
A finger is connected to the tail knife and the finger is bent towards the
right or left side relative to the
longitudinal direction of the cutting blade of the tail knife. The finger will
during processing i.e. before
and/or during cutting a tail direct the loose tail part to the other side as
it is itself bent towards i.e. if the
finger is bent to right the loose tail part is directed to the left. By
directing the loose tail part to a side
the tail knife is not cutting into the tail except at the base part of the
tail where it is connected to the
ham part of the animal carcass. By choosing the direction the finger is bent
towards determines which
half-part carcass the partly cut free tail will be connected to after
performing the cutting and the
splitting of the carcass.
The cutting blade of the tail knife is located in line with and/or in the same
plane as the cutting device
when the tail knife is located on this cutting device. Being more specific, it
is the cutting edges of the tail
knife and the cutting device (blade of the splitting saw) which are in the
same line/plane. The result
obtained hereby is that the cut made by the cutting blade of the tail knife is
straight and/or follows the
plane of the cutting device and hereby it does not damage the ham, by cutting
too far away from the tail
basis or it reduces cutting into ham meat when compared to cutting with prior
art tail cutters. At least
for some markets, the value of the meat is higher when it is located on the
ham than if the same
amount of meat is located on the tail.
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By 'the tail knife is located on the cutting device' is meant the tail knife
is located close to the cutting
device e.g. in front of the cutting device when the splitting device is in a
position as when processing a
pig hanging in its hind legs. The physical connection for locating the tail
knife relative to the cutting
device is preferably between the tail knife or a holder of the tail cutter and
the splitting device.
The finger of the tail cutter is located with an angle A to the cutting blade
of the tail knife of about 90-
160 degree, such as 110-130 degree. The angle A is from the cutting blade and
to the edge of the finger
that is closest to the knife blade of the tail cutter.
The finger of the tail cutter is bent to a side and is on this side located
with an angle B to the rest of the
tail cutter of about 130-180 degree, such as 150-170 degree.
The finger of the tail cutter comprises a finger tip and the finger is bent to
a side such that the finger tip
is between 1 and 3 cm displaced perpendicularly from a cutting plane performed
by the cutting device.
As the cutting blade of the tail knife and the cutting blade of the cutting
device is in the same line/plane
the finger tip may also be displaced between 1 and 3 cm perpendicularly from
the plane of the cutting
blade of the tail cutter. The finger is preferably 5-15 cm long measured from
the egde of the cutting
blade of the tail knife. The cutting blade of the tail knife may be 4-10 cm
long. All these dimensions are
preferably selected in relation to the size of the animal carcasses to be
processed. As an example, for
pigs the mentioned dimensions ¨ or some of these dimensions - should be larger
for large pigs such as
sows than for young pigs brought up only for meat production.
The tail knife may be connected to a holder suitable for holding the tail
knife in position relative to the
cutting device (blade of the splitting saw). The holder connects the tail
knife to the cutting device or
more precisely to the equipment or system with a cutting saw or blade for
cutting the carcass into two
half-carcasses. The holder is preferably located above the cutting device when
positioned as during
processing carcasses and the holder is preferably connected to the splitting
device above the cutting
device. The holder may be located on one side or on both sides of the tail
knife and hold the tail knife in
position.
The holder and/or the tail knife may comprise adjusting means and be adjusted
to position the tail knife
in line with the cutting device and/or in the same plane as the cutting
device. The effect of this is if
deciding to use a cutting device of a different size, then the tail cutter can
still be positioned in line
with/in the same plane as the cutting device. Thus, if a larger cutting device
is to be used the tail cutter
or the tail knife should be re-positioned and be further away from e.g. the
midpoint of the cutting blade.
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The holder and/or the tail cutter may at least be adjustable in a direction
backwards and/or forwards
relative to the plane of the cutting blade of the cutting device. The holder
and/or the tail cutter may
hereby comprise adjusting means for adjusting or re-positioning the tail
cutter relative to the size of the
cutting device to position the cutting blade of the tail cutter in line with
and/or in plane with the cutting
5 .. device. The tail cutter can also be repositioned e.g. once a day due to
wear and hereby smaller diameter
of the cutting device.
The tail cutter and/or the holder may also comprise a quick exchange system
for disconnecting and
connecting the tail knife to the holder or for disconnecting and connecting
the holder to the splitting
device. The advantage of such a quick exchange system is the tail knife can
quickly be exchanged to a tail
knife with different dimensions if smaller or larger carcasses in general are
to be processed, or the tail
knife can quickly be removed if one or a few carcasses conveyed to the
splitting station/area is/are of a
different size than carcasses processed in general, hereby the carcasses of
different size e.g. a carcass
from a pig sow located between carcasses from normal sized pigs are not
processed by the tail cutter as
it may not be suitable to process that size of carcass with a tail cutter
suitable for cutting smaller
carcasses.
The finger of the tail cutter is preferably dull or not sharp. The advantage
hereof is the finger can engage
with the tail of the carcass without damaging the tail when the tail is
directed toward one side. At least
the outermost tip edge and the edge of the finger towards the cutting blade of
the tail knife should
preferably be dull or not sharp, as these are the edges being mostly in
contact with the tail during
.. processing.
The cutting device is preferably a saw blade or a knife blade, and is
preferably circular. The cutting
device is used for splitting the carcass from one end to the other including
splitting the spine into two
halves.
A second aspect of the invention relates to a splitting device for splitting
carcasses of slaughtered
animals, the splitting device may comprise a cutting device such as a saw or
knife for splitting the animal
along the spine and a tail cutter as described herein for directing the tail
to a side and cutting the base
part of the tail.
By 'splitting the animal along the spine' is meant the carcass is split into
two half-carcasses by splitting
the spine into two halves and also splitting at the back end of the carcass
and optionally at the head
.. end, if present, of the carcass where the spine is not present.
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The splitting device may be connected to an automatic system for splitting
carcasses of slaughtered
animals. The splitting device may be used for an automatic single sided pig
tail cutting.
The automatic system may comprise at least one robot arm with at least three
degree of freedom
and/or a system for determining the position of carcasses to be handled, such
as a vision system. Also
further systems may be included such as an image analyzing system for
receiving and analyzing image
data of carcasses and carcass positions, a controlling unit for receiving
information from the analyzing
system and for controlling at least the automatic system to steer and activate
the splitting device in
relation to the carcasses to be processed.
A third aspect of the invention relates to a method for partly cutting free a
tail from a carcass of a
slaughtered animal by the use of a tail cutter as described herein or by the
use of a splitting device as
described herein, wherein the method may comprise the steps of
a) Directing the finger of the tail cutter on a first side of a tail
located on a carcass, hereby
pushing the tail aside,
b) Cutting by the cutting blade of the tail knife into the skin of the
carcass on the first side of
the tail,
c) Further cutting by the cutting blade of the tail knife into the carcass
around the base part of
the tail, and cutting through at least one bone and/or cartilage at the base
part of the tail,
d) Hereby partly cutting free the tail from the carcass.
In the described method the partly cut free tail in step d) is preferably
connected to the carcass on a
second side of the tail, where the second side is opposite to the first side.
The tail is preferably then
attached to one half carcass by a skin connection. The tail can be cut free in
a subsequent step e.g. cut
by hand. This cut free tail may be a high-quality tail suitable for human
consumption. The tail quality
also depends on the quality of the tail of the living animal before slaughter,
and the method and devices
described herein can be used to obtain a high-quality cut when cutting off the
tail at the base part of the
tail.
In the method at least part of the spinal column close to the base part of the
tail may be cut into two
halves before and/or during step a). The spinal column may be cut by the
cutting device as described
elsewhere. A splitting device as described herein may be used for splitting
carcasses and partly cutting
free the tail of these carcasses.
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In the method the cutting through at least one bone and/or cartilage at the
base part of the tail may be
cutting through the tailbone or coccyx, which is a curved, semi-flexible lower
end of the backbone.
It is to be understood that any features of one aspect may be combined with
any feature of another
aspect described herein.
Brief description of the drawings
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a splitting device with a tail cutter.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a tail knife.
Fig. 3 is a view from beneath of a tail knife.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view from beneath of a tail knife.
Fig. 5 is a side view of a tail knife.
Fig. 6 is a side view of a tail cutter.
Fig. 7 is a front view of a tail cutter.
Fig. 8A ¨ 8E illustrate the tail knife saving and cutting a tail of a pig
carcass.
Detailed description of the drawings
.. Fig. 1 illustrates a splitting device 1 with a tail cutter 3 located in
front of the splitting device 1. The tail
cutter 3 is locate above the cutting device 2 of the splitting device 1 and in
a way such that the finger 6
of the tail cutter 3 is in front of an upper part of the cutting device 2. The
cutting device 2 may be a
circular saw blade or knife blade for splitting a carcass by directing the
splitting device 1 from the ventral
side of the carcass (not illustrated) towards the spine and cutting the spine
from the ham end towards
the head end of the carcass.
Fig. 2 illustrates a tail knife 4. The tail knife 4 comprises a finger 6 with
a finger tip 7 and a cutting blade
5. The finger 6 is bent to the right side relative to the longitudinal
direction of the cutting blade 5 and
when observed from a position marked by an encircled X in front of the tail
knife 4 (see Figs. 3, 4 and 7
below for details). The finger 6 will, when a carcass is processed, be
directed to the right side of a tail
(not illustrated) such that the tail will be directed to the left side, and
the cutting blade 5 will cut at the
base part of the tail along the right side of the tail. The encircled cross
illustrate a position in front of the
tail knife 4 and from where right and left is determined in the text.
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Fig. 3 illustrates a tail knife 4 seen from beneath and looking towards the
cutting blade 5. Illustrated is
the longitudinal cutting blade 5 and the finger 6 which is bent to a side. The
finger tip 7 is rounded to
avoid sharp edges
Fig. 4 illustrates a tail knife 4 seen from beneath and looking towards the
finger 6. The finger tip 7 and
the cutting blade 5 are illustrated. The figure illustrates how the finger is
bent to a side and an angle B
11 between the finger 6 and the base part of the cutting blade 5.
Fig. 5 is a side view of a tail knife 4. Indicated is the angle A 9 between
the cutting blade 5 and the finger
6. Indicated is also the outline 10 of a part of a cutting device 2 such as a
saw blade.
Fig. 6 is a side view of a tail cutter 3. A holder 8 is holding a tail knife
4. The outline 10 indicates where a
part of the cutting blade of a cutting device 2 is located when the tail
cutter 3 is positioned correct such
that the cutting blade 5 is in line with or in the same plane as the cutting
device 2. Adjusting means 12
can be used to adjust the position of the tail cutter 3 on a splitting device
(not illustrated). As indicated
by the double arrow 17 the tail cutter 3 can be moved forward i.e. to the left
or backward i.e. to the
right by adjusting in the adjusting means 12, which in this solution is
adjusting along oblong apertures
present in the holder 8 and/or in the part connecting the tail cutter 3 to the
splitting device.
Fig. 7 is a front view of a tail cutter 3. A holder 8 is located on both side
of the tail knife 4 and a cutting
device illustrated by the outline 10. The finger 6 is bent to a side.
Fig. 8A ¨ 8E illustrate the tail knife 4 saving and cutting a tail 13 of a pig
carcass 14. The pig carcass 14
has prior to the splitting process been opened in the ventral part and
intestines have been removed
including the bung (anal opening) leaving an opening 15 next to the basis of
the tail. The splitting device
is during the process entered towards the carcass 14 from the ventral side and
cutting the spine from
the inside of the carcass 14. In Fig 8A the tail knife 4 with a finger 6, a
holder 8 and a cutting device 2 is
shown just prior to or when the cutting device 2 starts cutting into the ham
part of the carcass 14. As
seen the tail knife 4 and its finger 6 is positioned in front of the cutting
device 2 hereby in position to
engage with the tail 13. In Fig 8B the cutting device 2 is or has cut the ham
section and a part of the
cutting device 2 can be seen where the bung opening 15 is present. The finger
6 of the tail knife 4 is
directed on the right side of the tail 13. In Fig 8C the cutting device 2 has
cut pass the tail 13 without
cutting into the tail 13, the finger 6 is directing the tail 13 to the left
side and the tail knife 4 is engaged
with the tail 13 and about to cut through the tail 13 at the base part 16 of
the tail 13 and on the right
side of the tail 13. In Fig 8D the tail knife 4 is cutting with the cutting
blade (hidden) through the base
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part 16 or the tail 13 while the tail knife 4 continues to hold the tail 13 at
a side hereby saving the tail 13
from being damaged or cut with a low-quality cut. Fig 8E shows the saved i.e.
non-damaged and partly
cut free tail 13 being located on one of the half carcass, the first half
carcass 18, after the splitting is
completed. The ham part 20 of the first half carcass 18 is indicated as is
also the ham part 20 of the
second half carcass 19. No tail parts are left on the second half carcass 19,
where the base part 16 of the
tail 13 is indicated although the tail 13 is cut away from the second half
carcass 19. The tail 13 can in a
subsequent process be cut off the first half carcass 18, this can easily be
performed by hand as the tail
13 is connected to the half carcass by skin, fat and other tissue structures
being present at the base part
of the tail 16 before cutting.
It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples,
while indicating
embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since
various changes and
modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become
apparent to those skilled in the
art from this detailed description.
